News

Uncrewed aviation is scaling rapidly, and the safety culture work cannot be deferred. Our analysis of the consistent patterns across twenty-five years of aerospace consulting, and what early-stage UAS organisations need to build deliberately from the start.

Most uncrewed operators bring the crewed aviation SMS playbook into their operation. Our latest article explains the four structural differences that mean it only takes you part of the way.

Most aviation organisations run SMS, compliance, security and quality in parallel. Ian Holder's SM ICG Industry Day paper sets out why they are one system wearing many names, and what genuine integration requires.

As BVLOS operations grow more complex, the human performance and CRM infrastructure in the uncrewed sector is not keeping pace. Our analysis of the gap and what operators should be planning for now.

Every maturing aviation sector follows the same safety pattern. Uncrewed aviation is now entering its human factors phase, and the operators who recognise it are investing in the disciplines now.

Meet Fatigue Risk Management expert Sarah Booth of Baines Simmons at the FRMS Forum in Rome, 21–22 April 2026.

The UK CAA released Edition 3 of CAP 2153 in March 2026, introducing significant changes to the Part CAMO CAME User Guide.

Discover how EMARs are reshaping military airworthiness globally — and how Baines Simmons delivers the training and implementation support to adopt them.

Failure has long been burdened with stigma. When things go wrong in high-stakes environments such as aviation, the instinct has often been to locate the fault, assign blame, and remove the perceived source.

Baines Simmons, a trusted leader in global aviation safety consulting and training, today announced the launch of a Continuing Airworthiness Management Organisation (CAMO) within its operations group.

In the world of aviation and other safety-critical industries, understanding why things go wrong is just as important as knowing what went wrong. At the heart of that understanding lies Human Factors (HF) - 'The discipline of optimising human performance in the workplace'.

By now, most UK approved Part‑145 and Part‑21 organisations have completed their initial CAA SMS Evaluation Tool (SRG 1776) submission and received feedback on how “present” and “suitable” their safety management arrangements are.

SAFE 360º is a collaborative conference, held under Chatham house rules, designed for organisations in the aviation sector in Europe to discuss challenges related to safety management, find areas for improvement, and to challenge ourselves as an industry to identify where improvements can be made.

When there has been a safety-related event that indicates a potential safety risk, an occurrence investigation is conducted, not to assign blame but to understand what has happened and why, so corrective actions can be put in place.

Whether you're in operations, maintenance, compliance, IT, or oversight, understanding who Part-IS applies to and who holds responsibility is critical.

Airlines, MROs, airports, and regulators are all working to meet evolving standards, but at the heart of this effort lies a role that often operates quietly behind the scenes - the auditor.

We are proud to be the key delivery partner in the UK Military Aviation Authority's Safety Training for Error Prevention programme, a cornerstone initiative designed to elevate safety knowledge, regulatory understanding, and professional competence across all elements of UK Armed Forces Aviation.

TrustFlight Ltd. (“TrustFlight”), a global leader in aviation safety and compliance solutions, today announced it has acquired Baines Simmons, Kenyon Emergency Services, and Redline Assured Security from Wheels Up.

Part-IS is designed to integrate with existing Safety Management Systems (SMS), encouraging organisations to trace how information flows through their operations and assess where vulnerabilities could pose safety risks.

We are a proud sponsor and exhibitor of the Defence Aviation Safety Conference 2025 on the 6th - 7th October 2025 in Kensington, London. The focus of the event is securing the skies through innovation, interoperability, and resilience in a digital age.

Triaging alone does not effectively manage risk. Once an organisation identifies a recurring pattern or hazard theme, the question becomes: how serious is this issue in context, and what level of control or mitigation is needed?

The STEP programme is designed to improve skills and awareness of air safety and enhance the effectiveness of the Aviation Safety Management System within UK military aviation on behalf of the Military Aviation Authority (MAA), which forms part of the Defence Safety Authority (DSA).

If you are an organisation with shifts, variable workload or are safety critical, it is important to understand what your fatigue risk exposure is, and how Fatigue Risk Management can support your risk management within your management system.

ARMS Event Risk Classification (ERC) tool – used to triage safety reports/events to identify if immediate intervention is required and indicate the appropriate level of further investigation.

To help organisations optimise their safety and business performance, we offer Management System Performance Assessments that provide evidenced analysis of any gaps that are impacting performance and maturity of your Management System, and work with you to develop an effective improvement plan.

Safety assurance looks at system performance, enabling organisations to rely on their Management System to provide the right information to make risk-based, data-driven decisions.

When it comes to embedding and driving a Just Culture, the role of leadership is critical. This applies to senior management, but also to those within an organisation that people look up to and follow.

After attending the Safety Forum 2025, Consultant Liam Bell shares his key takeaways and insights from the event.

When things go wrong, an investigation is conducted to understand what has happened and why. It's what you do next that's critical. Our Flowchart Analysis of Investigation Results (FAiR) System can support you in unlocking the full potential of your Just Culture.

We must ensure that we are managing fatigue in an environment that is Just.

Just Culture strikes a delicate balance between fostering open and honest reporting and holding individuals accountable for their actions.

Our Senior Consultant Pete Hibbert delves into the topic of Just Culture with our Marketing Manager Bethan Flynn, discussing errors and violations and the importance of creating a culture where staff feel empowered to report errors and rules they have broken.

Our Senior Consultant John Wallace and Consultant Cameron Cain-Jones discuss the use of the SKATE model and the shift in how organisations can ensure staff competence.

In our latest video, our Managing Principal Consultant Steve Hough and Senior Consultant Stuart Grimsey reflect on their military experience.

An effective Just Culture creates an atmosphere of trust by encouraging and empowering team members to report errors.

Our Safety Management and Risk Reduction Toolkit (SMARRT MAP) goes beyond the Four Pillars of an SMS, covering regulatory compliance and five enablers.

Thursday 8th May 2025 marked the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day.

Discover methods for analysing your Management System and to gain a full understanding of how it is working.

How a Management System can be utilised to make informed, risk-based, and data-driven decisions.

Fatigue training is competency-based training and must be delivered across the organisation, not just to the crew.

Managing Director Ian Holder FRAeS shares how our passion for safety fuels the Baines Simmons team to elevate safety for our clients.

Our Managing Principal Consultant, Steve Hough, explains the EASA Management System Assessment Tool (MSAT).

Discover the exciting ways Ontic are integrating Management Systems to enable growth, including sharing a picture of what that looks like across multiple approvals and standards.

Our Marketing Manager, Bethan Flynn and our Fatigue Risk Management expert, Sarah Booth, discuss the important elements of sleep health.

Learn how and why sleep health should be made a priority and what you can do to improve your sleep health.

The current challenges with Fatigue Risk Management within European Flight Operations and some best practices on how to address these.

Accountable Managers and Nominated Persons from across the aviation industry discuss key topics and address areas of concern in a thought leadership workshop.

Our Managing Principal Consultant Steve Hough reviews this latest edition of EPAS, summarising the key takeaways, including the new higher-risk safety issues, to help you get the most out of this publication.

Our Principal Consultant, Simon Nicholls explores how behaviours can influence safety and the steps to influence safety culture.

Our Consultant Jack Coleman explains the importance of the Safety Management element for design organisations.

Senior Consultant, John Wallace delves into the risks of fatigue in Part 145 and highlights strategies in managing fatigue to help create a safer and more productive work environment.

Within this blog, we look at the introduction of Integrated/Safety Management Systems (IMS/SMS) as one of the biggest shifts within Ground Handling.

Effective problem solving is crucial for any organisation aiming to maintain and improve its management system, enhance operational efficiency, and prevent recurring issues.

We’re excited to be exhibiting at the IATA World Safety and Operations Conference (WSOC) on the 1st-3rd October in Marrakesh, Morocco.

Our Senior Account Manager, Mark Streatfield, delves into our Competence Development Pathways which are a comprehensive tool designed to help individuals, teams, and organisations assess and enhance core knowledge and skills.

Our experts shed light on the frequently asked questions surrounding Fatigue Risk Management, in relation to the aviation industry and services offered by aviation safety services Baines Simmons.

Director, Bob Simmons, and Senior Business Development Manager, Sarah Winter discuss the implementation of Safety Management Systems (SMS).

Our Senior Consultant, Paul White, discusses the role of the CAMO and what the benefits are of having a good CAMO.

Findings should not be seen as a criticism of either the organisation or the individual, rather they should be treated as a learning opportunity for the continuous improvement of the management system as required by the basic regulation.

A Line Operations Safety Audit (or Assessment) (LOSA) is a proactive safety management tool used in the aviation industry to assess and improve safety performance.

Senior Consultant, Liam Bell, discusses the Human Factors Essentials for Aircraft and Component Certifying Staff (Mod 9 Equivalent) - TS133 course.

The FAA is still on the fence about whether to insist that all 5,000 certified repair shops have safety management systems (SMS), but many U.S. shops operate globally, so they don't really have a choice.

The 3 Lines of Defence is a concept designed to give confidence to management, clients/customers, shareholders, and regulators that an organisation is actively managing compliance, whilst effectively delivering the required output.

Our Initial Airworthiness Consultant Jack Coleman, discusses the role of Compliance Verification Engineers (CVEs), with a particular focus on those within the military sector.

Compliance can encompass a wide range of areas, such as regulatory, corporate, industry specific, data privacy and security. Effectively, all of these can be described as meeting requirements or following/adhering to process.

Just Culture should be ingrained in our daily conversations, managerial support systems, approach to problem-solving, and even in audits and performance evaluations.

Hear from our Consultant Liam Bell, where he discusses BowTie XP, one of the leading software for creating and managing BowTie diagrams.

Baines Simmons, a World leading aviation safety training and consulting company, part of Air Partner Group, has secured the Feefo Platinum Trusted Service award for the fifth consecutive year.

Hear from Director Bob Simmons where he explains what impact an effective Continuing Airworthiness Management Organisation (CAMO) can have and how to get the most out of your CAMO.

The UK MAA have recently released revision 8 of RA1205, which regards Air System Safety Cases. The Safety Case owners now need to ensure compliance with RA1205, and this seems to be driving renewed interest in the role of Def Stan 00-056.

The introduction of ICAO Annex 19 (Safety Management System) has provided a stimulus for Regulators (such as EASA) to move towards a “Performance Based Environment”.

Director Bob Simmons discusses how important nominated persons are, what support there is for them to fulfil their role and how an organisation can manage its compliance.

This article provides a view on how those within the UK Heavy and Light Rail industry can act to improve the effectiveness of their FRMS, based on our years of experience supporting operators implementing FRMS.

Liam Bell, Baines Simmons Consultant, introduces BowTie Methodology, including what BowTie is, where it originates from and how it supports Safety Management Systems (SMS).

How do we define reliability? The regulations give us some guidance particularly Part M and Part CAMO. Put simply, an aircraft, system or component can be described as reliable, if under a defined operating environment...

Ground handling is a challenging environment that requires a balance of planned, choreographed, coordinated and ultimately a “ballet” of movements.

Part 21 industry, since 7th March 2023, is now implementing the Safety Management Element (SMe) as the latest regulation became applicable.

To celebrate Women of Aviation, we’ve asked Dr Cristina Ruscitto, to share details of her experience of working in aviation.

Jonathan Astill is appointed Executive Vice President of the Services Division comprising Baines Simmons, Redline Assured Security, and Kenyon Emergency Services.

Leading aviation safety specialist Baines Simmons, part of the Services Division of the aviation group, Air Partner, has won the Feefo Platinum Trusted Service award 4 years in a row.

Paul White and Craig Simmonds re-joined the company in October and Andy Llewellyn will return for March.

Consultant Jack Coleman shares his key takeaways from the EASA Certification Conference 2022, where the EASA Certification Directorate shared the latest updates on certification activities.

In an issue of the RAF Total Safety Magazine, Air Clues, Senior Consultant Peter Hibbert discusses how we continue to manage, on behalf of the MAA, the MOD’s Safety Training for Error Prevention (STEP) programme.

The ICAO Annex 19 Safety Management System approach has been released against Part 21 legalisation. The aim of such, is to recognise the limitations of human and organisational performance.

Baines Simmons has been awarded a contract with the UK Civil Aviation Authority (UK CAA) to develop and deliver a comprehensive eLearning programme for the entire UK flying display community.

Safety Management Systems (SMS) is ICAO’s, and subsequent aviation authorities, response to mitigate the limits of human performance in relation to aircraft safety.

A Holistic Approach to Risk - article by Managing Director Ian Holder for IIRSM's member magazine

Sleep is crucial and plays an important role in your physical and mental health. The amount of sleep you require can vary for different individuals but the amount of sleep you achieve in 24 hours can easily be affected by various factors.

Baines Simmons, part of the Services Division of global aviation services group, Air Partner, a Wheels Up company, has seen increased demand for safety training as airlines and airports prepare for take-off this summer

Good quality sleep is a key building block in maintaining and improving our physical, mental, and emotional state. It is foundational to human health.

Having set up Baines Simmons over 20 years ago, in our new video Bob Simmons, Director and co-founder, reflects on what the motivation was to create the company.

Aviation safety experts Baines Simmons and the risk management professional membership organisation IIRSM (International Institute of Risk and Safety Management) today announced a new partnership.

Bob Simmons, Director, shares some of the successes and ideas around ensuring you get the best value for money in your implementation.

You have a functioning management system which meets all the regulatory requirements, but the move to performance based regulation will require you to demonstrate its effectiveness.

How can your audit function measure the performance of your compliance monitoring management system and assure your stakeholders that compliance is being managed effectively?

Baines Simmons has won the Feefo Platinum Trusted Service award for the third consecutive year following exceptional reviews of its training services by customers.

Getting enough sleep (7-9 hours of sleep per 24-hour period1) is one of the best things we can do for our health, mood, and performance.

Baines Simmons has launched a bespoke cabin crew safety programme service for airlines as the recruitment of cabin crew teams has increased.

We are delighted have welcomed new Associate Consultants to the Baines Simmons team. With decades of experience between them covering every aspect of the aviation industry.

Every cell in our body has a natural circadian (24-hour) rhythm, which is controlled by our body clock, located in the brain.

Partner Plus provides the opportunity for organisations to become loyalty members and, amongst other rewards, provides price discounts for organisations purchasing training in bulk quantities.

Managing Director, Ian Holder reflects on the highlights and demands of the past year and explains how we have been working with operators with Line Operation Safety Audits.

Research has shown that athletes who are able to sleep longer than the recommended amount, e.g. ‘bank’ or extend sleep by 1-2 hours a night, for a few days ahead of a competition, can optimise their performance.

Baines Simmons is delighted to be exhibiting at the Helitech Expo (Stand 574) one of the UK’s largest events for the aviation and the vertical take-off and landing aircraft (VTOL) industries.

The recently launched ‘BE READY and STAY SAFE’ campaign from EASA, is designed to assist the aviation industry to manage critical safety issues.

Team leaders have the capacity to lift up and support their team so they can reach their full potential. If you are a team leader, getting adequate sleep is an essential way you can stay strong for your team.

You can add ‘sleep better’ to the very long list of reasons to quit smoking. Similar to caffeine, nicotine is a stimulant, which people use because of its alerting properties.

The National Safety and Security Academy (NSSA) will provide Baines Simmons safety training and Redline Assured Security training for the aviation industry under one roof.

The 2020 IATA Fact Sheet gives an interesting insight into current levels of global safety performance.

We are proud to announce that we have signed the Armed Forces Covenant, further pledging our support towards the Armed Forces community.

The term ‘Revenge Bedtime Procrastination’ originates from China where people can work a ‘996’ schedule, working 9am to 9pm, 6 days a week. However, it’s a behaviour that many of us may recognise.

Over this last year, many of us have lost our usual daily routines, with no commute, lunchtimes with colleagues or clear time differences between office and home time.

With recent research finding that the typical UK home worker is working two hours a day more than before the coronavirus crisis began, Baines Simmons is concerned that employees are more likely to fall into the habit of ‘Revenge Bedtime Procrastination’.

19 March marks World Sleep Day, an annual event designed to raise awareness of the “importance of sleep for achieving an optimal quality of life and improved global health”.

We are delighted to announce a complete update to our popular, 1 day, TS01 Management System Course, formerly “SMS -Essentials for Aviation Professionals” now re-named “Management Systems – Safety Responsibilities”.

We are delighted to have welcomed new Associate Consultants to the Baines Simmons team. With decades of experience between them covering every aspect of the aviation industry.

With the Covid-19 pandemic causing disarray it’s never been more vital for employers to consider the impact of fatigue on their workforce.

Baines Simmons, aviation safety specialists, have developed a new training course designed to help Air Operators to gain increased understanding of Fatigue Risk Management (FRM).

When running a diagnostic, we pride ourselves on really getting under the skin of an organisation, to fully understand how an organisation works and to gain insight into its quirks and culture.

The Platinum Trusted Service award is the highest level of distinction that Feefo bestows.

Alcohol will make you sleepy, but you won’t sleep well for about an hour after your first alcoholic drink, your brain is stimulated to release dopamine, the so-called “happy hormone”.

In order to maintain a high level of alertness and performance, we are best suited to being awake for no more than about 16 hours following 8 hours of good quality sleep, although these values can differ slightly among individuals.

Baines Simmons has partnered with the New Zealand Defence Force to provide a bespoke virtual training programme.

Sleepiness contributes to approximately 1 in 5 fatal and serious road accidents. When we are feeling sleepy, for example after a night shift, driving is one of the most dangerous things we can do.

“We encourage staff to take two ‘volunteer days’ per year to work with charities and organisations to support their local community," explains CEO Mark Briffa.

Discussion of fatigue in aviation incidents is often focused on pilots and cabin crew, with less attention provided to maintenance engineers responsible for round-the-clock planned and reactive maintenance of aircraft.

Discussion of fatigue in aviation incidents is often focused on pilots and cabin crew, with less attention provided to maintenance engineers responsible for round-the-clock planned and reactive maintenance of aircraft.

In these difficult times living with COVID has been a daily challenge for us all which we’ve had to address both at work and at home.

Over 70% of surveyed Baines Simmons clients expressed an interest in virtual training solutions as part of a long-term blended solution, post-pandemic as well.

For many people, the way their natural internal body clock is inclined can make the demands and schedules of work and lifestyles especially challenging.

This holiday period may see fewer of us taking to the skies and therefore not experiencing the jetlag that comes with long-haul travel. However, there is another type of jetlag, social jetlag, which you can experience even if holidaying closer to home.

Despite the devastating impact of Covid 19 on humanity and the impact it continues to cause, some organisations have prospered whilst others have struggled to function.

William Bell, General Manager of our Wildlife Hazard Management division, talks about the process of improving the 37-strong fleet and why, for our wildlife hazard operators, it’s more than just a vehicle.

Adapting the course involved a lot of work but it was definitely time well spent.

These changes are aimed at improving the safety of aircraft operations and impact not just the operators but those organisations who contribute to the safety of the operator and currently the public.

During a typical night’s sleep, everyone dreams but while some people easily and often remember their dreams, other people can’t recall their dreams.

Covid-19 has had a dramatic impact on businesses globally, with top C-suite executives having to make decisions that they might have never thought to have considered.

Virtual training has been an incredibly important component of the training calendar this year due to the COVID pandemic and has enabled us to continue delivering training throughout both lockdown and tier restrictions.

All service providers are grappling with what it means to manage aviation safety whilst balancing the commercial needs of their respective businesses.